chapmanship en · NOUN
Etymology
From chapman + -ship. Compare German Kaufmannschaft, Dutch koopmanschap, Old Frisian kapenskip (West Frisian keapmanskip).
Meanings
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(rare, uncountable) The state, quality, condition, or role of a chapman (dealer, bargainer, tradesman).
In short, after a great deal of chapmanship, the haberdasher got the fiddle at forty guineas; and a happy man was he, thinking he had made ten guineas by the bargain.
1926, John L. Rayner, The Complete Newgate Calendar: